Troy watched her push the macaroni around her plate. "Is there something wrong?"
"No." She said with a slight laugh. "For once there's not something wrong."
"You can eat as much as you want. I'm not one to judge." Troy said.
Gabriella shook her head. "It's nothing like that… It's just…"
"You don't have to tell me anything." He assured her.
"I haven't had macaroni and cheese since I was a kid. My dad always made it for me before the new wife came along." She said softly. "He put the canned chicken in it, you know, the one to make chicken salad? I thought it was disgusting."
Troy watched her talk. He smiled to himself as she looked down at her plate. "I hate chicken salad."
"Me too. Anything with mayo." She said. "Or mustard. I was a picky child, still am pretty picky. I hate it."
"I eat anything and everything… except chicken salad. I got food poisoning once. It ruined it forever." He explained. "Are you done?" He asked, taking a drink of his water.
She sighed. "I don't know. I want to eat but I don't want to eat. But then I just want to cry. I'm trying not to be completely rude, even though I over welcomed my stay. I just-" She covered her face in her palms and took a deep breath.
"You don't have to-" He stopped himself. "I was just asking…" He said slowly.
"I'm sorry." She said, looking up at him. Tears were brimming her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Troy reached over hesitantly, putting his fingertips on top of hers. "Please, don't be sorry. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault. I'll put your plate in the fridge in case you want to eat a little later. You can warm it up in the microwave. For now, you can lay down?"
She bit her quivering lip and nodded. "Okay." She said quietly. "Thank you."
He got up and walked her to his room. He grabbed her another blanket and laid it on top of her as she laid down on his bed. "If you need anything, I'll be on the couch." He gave her a small smile and closed the door behind him.
He let out a breath that he was holding and started to put away dinner. He put her plate in the fridge along with the leftovers. He washed the dishes, leaving them out to dry. He turned after he dried his hands and headed straight for the closet.
Troy grabbed a pillow and a spare blanket. He turned off the lights around the house and laid the blankets on the couch. He turned the alarm on his phone on and laid across the couch. He propped his head against the pillow and closed his eyes. His mind was active while his body was tired.
He thought about what he remembered about his parents, which wasn't much. He thought about his Grandmother- the one person who never gave up on him. When she passed away a couple years ago, it just sucked the life out of him. He missed her. His grandmother was his only friend in multiple times in his life. The boys in his grade usually made fun of him for being quiet and being a grandmas' boy. He'd had too much go wrong in his life to worry about the boys he'd never talk to after graduation.
Troy heard his bedroom door open and he sat up. He watched her walk over to him, the blanket wrapped around her. "Can I sit out here with you?" She asked quietly. He nodded his head, scooting over.
Gabriella hugged herself and the blanket around her. She found that she felt more at ease with Troy then she did alone. She hated the thoughts that crept up on her when she was alone. She sat down on the couch and hugged her knees. "Troy?"
"Yeah?" He asked tiredly.
"Do you have to work tomorrow?"
"Yes." He murmured. She looked over at him. He looked exhausted. He was leaning his head against his closed fist.
"You know you can sleep in your own bedroom." She said quietly.
He just shrugged. "I'd rather you be comfortable."
"A couch is already a big step from the seat of a car." She said. He hummed in response. "I saw a stack of old lotto tickets sitting on you dresser."
"You never know when you get lucky."
"Do you dream about what you would do if you won?" She asked quietly.
Troy sat up and looking up at her. "All the time."
"What would you do if you won?"
He cleared his throat. "It changes all the time. I don't have much family or any friends really. I'd probably invest it in the company I work for. Split it up so I don't have the urge to spend it all at once. I'd probably buy a small house. I'd probably give more than half of it to Charity."
"That's what I'd do. Give a lot to charity. I'd give out scholarships so children can get educations. That would be after I fake my own death and get a new identity." Troy let out a small laugh. "In my old life, when I thought about it, I'd always say I'd give this much to this person and this much to this person. I have no one left in my corner from my old life."
"Maybe it's time to make new friends?" He offered. "Ones who won't leave your corner."
She just shrugged. "Maybe."
"Do you have many friends?"
He laughed quietly. "No. I'm… very introverted. I have coworkers that I trust with my life but I don't hang out with many of them out of work."
"I was very outgoing." She said quietly, staring at the television. "I wanted to be a performer. I wanted to sing and dance and act. I lived on stage before-" She cut her self off. "In my old life." She hugged herself, hoped she hadn't revealed too much.
He smiled. "I'd love to see that. I bet you were great."
She smiled slightly. "I thought I was."
"I'm sure you were." He murmured. She sighed to herself. There were so many things she wished she could do over. She leaned her head hesitantly on his shoulder. It took a minute for her to relax and close her eyes.
Troy heard an irritating beeping coming from his cell phone. He tried to shift but felt something solid on his shoulder. He was a little confused but he opened one eye and saw a mass of brown curls resting on his shoulder. He didn't know how he was going to move with out waking her up. He reached over for his phone but she sat up instantly.
"Please don't hurt me." She said, breathlessly. She curled up in a ball with an unmistakable look of fear in her wide eyes.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He said quietly before he was interrupted by the annoying beeping of his alarm. He grabbed his phone and turned it off. "I have to get ready for work." He said. He saw her shaking from where he was sitting. She just nodded. "Are you going to be okay while I'm at work?"
"I'm going to get out of your hair after I collect my stuff."
"You can stay as long as you need to, Gabriella. You aren't bothering me any, I promise." He said, stretching his back out. It wasn't sore like he thought it would be. He got up. "I'll get in the shower then I'll make us some breakfast."
"I'll make breakfast, you can shower." She said, getting up.
"I'll be right out." He said with a nod.
He got dressed after he got out of the shower. He sniffed the air smelling bacon. He looked at the time, deciding he can afford to be a little late if he took too long to eat. He walked out of his room and poured himself a cup of coffee. He watched her put dishes in the sink.
"You can leave them, I'll do them when I get home." Troy said, taking a sip of his hot coffee. "Coffee?"
"Sure." She said quietly. He poured her a cup and placed it in front of her. "It's done." She handed him a plate and they sat down at the table. "What are you working on at work?"
He took a sip of his coffee before he answered. "A housing community. The land was just sitting there and the state of New Mexico pared up with a company that builds dream homes. Each individual home is custom built."
She smiled fondly. "I wish I had a custom built house. You mostly see apartment now a days."
"I guess that's why I enjoy making houses. I hate apartments. They're very… impersonal. It only makes sense I live in one." Troy joked.
"Apartments are all over California. That's why the schools are overfilled and it's hard to find a job. Northern California is full of people that are coming in from different countries for all the tech jobs. You'd think they'd have better schools so we can hire people who need work here." She said before putting her fork in her mouth.
"I don't think I could ever live in California. It always sounds busy." He murmured. "Albuquerque is one of the two biggest cities in New Mexico but I'm sure it's a whole different world from California."
"Oh yeah." She agreed. "I think I like it here."
"Are you going to stay?" He asked, hopefully.
She sighed. "I don't know. I don't know if I should stay or keep going."
"If you keep running you're going to wear yourself dry. All you're going to have is a broken heart and a broken down car." He said with a small shrug. "If you decide to stay, my door is always open."
Surprise chapter because I finally heard from the third school i applied to. I'm officially going to go to Arizona! I'm so excited and scared and nervous. All the feels rushing around me. lol. Y'all are amazing. I really can't say that enough. I hope this story lives up to y'alls expectations. Thanks for reading. don'tforgettoreview